~ Thinking outside the box about Cambodia

Monthly Archives: October 2016

Let go back for a moment to historical philosophy in ancient Greece by visiting what was known about the reflections and sayings by Bion of Borysthenes, in the third century B.C., as related by Diogenes Laertius.

When Antigonus, ruler of Macedonia, inquired Bion, one among the Academics of Plato: “Who among men, and whence are you? What is your city and your parents?” he, knowing that he had already been maligned replied: “My father was a freedman, who wiped his nose on his sleeve ” – meaning that he was a dealer in salt fish – “a native of Borysthenes, with no face to show, but only the writing on his face, a token of his master’s severity. My mother was such as a man like my father would marry, from a brothel. Afterwards my father, who had cheated the revenue in some way, was sold with his family. And I, then a not ungraceful youngster, was bought by a certain rhetorician, who on his death left me all he had. And I burnt his books, scraped everything together, came to Athens and turned philosopher. This is the stock and this the blood from which I boast to have sprung. Such is my story. Judge me by myself.”

When he was reproached for not paying court to a youth, his excuse was, “You can’t get hold of a soft cheese with a hook.”

When asked who suffers most from anxiety, he replied: “He who is ambitious of the greatest prosperity.”

Being consulted by some one as to whether he should marry, he made answer: “If the wife you marry be ugly, she will be your bane; if beautiful, you will not keep her to yourself.”

Bion called old age the harbour of all ills; at least they all take refuge there.

To some one who had devoured his patrimony, he said: “The earth swallowed Amphiaraus, but you have swallowed your land.”

He used repeatedly to say that “to grant favours to another was preferable to enjoying the favours of others. For the latter means ruin to both body and soul.

He also used to say: “The road to Hades was easy to travel; at any rate men passed away with their eyes shut.” He added: “Those in Hades would be more severely punished if the vessels in which they drew water were whole instead of being pierced with holes.”

He said in censure of Alcibiades that in his boyhood he drew away the husbands from their wives, and as a young man the wives from their husbands.

When the Athenians were absorbed in the practice of rhetoric, he taught philosophy at Rhodes. To some one who found fault with him for this he replied: “How can I sell barley when what I brought to the market is wheat?”

To an importune talker who wanted his help he said, “I will satisfy your demand, if you will only get others to plead your case and stay away yourself.”

On a voyage in bad company he fell in with pirates. When his companion said, “We are lost if we are discovered, “And I too,” he replied, “unless I am discovered.”

Referring to a wealthy miser he said, “He has not acquired a fortune; the fortune acquired him.” Misers, he said, took care of the property as if it belonged to them, but derived no more benefit from it than if it belonged to others.

“When we are young,” said he, “we are courageous, but it is only in old age that prudence is at its height.” Prudence, he said, excels the other virtues as much as sight excels the other senses.

To a slanderer who showed a grave face his words were, “I don’t know whether you have met with ill luck, or your neighbour with good.”

Bion remarked that we ought to watch our friends and see what manner of men they are, in order that we may not be thought to associate with the bad or to decline the friendship of the good.

The said article is about a movie titled “Angkor Awakens” produced by Professor Robert H. Lieberman of Cornell University. Whereas a trailer is inserted in The Phnom Penh Post article, the entire movie has not been publicly screened yet either in or outside Cambodia. However, 2 special screenings have been advertised to be on 4 and 5 November 2016 in Ithaca, New York, USA.

What is interesting for you about the article itself is what was written in the following paragraph: “Lieberman provides few answers, but he does engage with the root of this uncertainty: baksbat. “If Hun Sen were overthrown, what does that mean for the country? Does it mean instability? Or does it mean a move towards democracy?” he asks. “I don’t know.””

For the moment, let focus on ONE conditional clause: “If Hun Sen were overthrown” as the following clauses are nothing else but consequences/results/aftermath of the 1st one.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “to overthrow” as “to remove (someone or something) from power especially by force.” Let the academic and hypothetical supposition raised by Mr. Lieberman be addressed by other quarters that might have the Merriam-Webster’s definition characteristics without omitting that contemporary history of Cambodia has ample examples of “overthrown”:
– March 1970, Lon Nol overthrew Prince Sihanouk;
– April 1979, Pol Pot of Democratic Kampuchea overthrew the Khmer Republic, and
– January 1979, Pen Sovan of the People’s Republic of Kampuchea, with support of Vietnamese troops, overthrew the Democratic Kampuchea.

Incidentally, as of now, where are the “overthrowers” and the “overthrowns”?
– Lon Nol died on 17 November 1985, in California, USA;
– Pol Pot died on 15 April 1998 in the jungle of Anlong Veng, Cambodia, and
– Prince Sihanouk died on 15 October 2012 in Beijing, China, and
– Pen Sovan died on 29 October 2016 in Takéo, Cambodia.
And as Arthur Schopenhauer, once, said: “Obit anus, abit onus” or “The old woman dies, the burden is lifted.”

Instead, let examine whether there could be other forward-looking, possible and peaceful – as a matter of course without using “force” – options/alternatives of alternation to power that exclude “overthrown.” So, Kacvey, as a man can do what he wants but he cannot want what he wants, he could choose one or more of those below:
– Resignfrom premiership;
– Retire while being ahead of the game and enjoy the vastly amassed fortune;
– Walk totally out of politics or enter monkhood;
– Stop running as president or secretary-general of the party;
– Stop running as deputy/parliamentarian to the national assembly;
– Get rid of vanity and stop thinking of indispensability and irreplaceability;
– Stop believing in self-immortality;
– Stop imitating the above-mentioned 3 foregone leaders;
– Start having trust on Cambodian people;
– Respect Cambodians and their constitutional vote.

On the contrary, in a larger spectrum, world history has left a lot of trails for future generations to learn about regime change through turbulence, violence or bloodshed:
– Laos, 1960: Captain Kong Le;
– South Vietnam, 1963: General Nguyen Cao Ky;
– Grenada, 1979: Maurice Rupert Bishop;
– Liberia, 1979: Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings, and
– Ghana, 1980: Master Sargent Samuel Doe.

As the man goes, other Cambodians stay, and they won’t talk/think about “overthrown.” Instead they would wonder with positive perspective and rephrase Mr. Lieberman’s supposition to: “If Hun Sen were leaving, what does that mean for the country? Does it mean stability? Or does it mean a move towards true democracy?”

100 days have passed and a memorial service was conducted at Wat Chass in honor of Mr. Kem Ley’s soul with the erection of a life-size statue of him.

As a lot of discussions have already been held among the millions of Cambodians of every political orientation and conviction through all means of communications, let keep these 2 articles for long-term documentation:
– The Cambodia Daily of October 17, 2016: Procession Closes 100-Day Ceremony for Slain Analyst, by Ben Sokhean and Zsombor Peter; and
– The Phnom Penh Post of Monday 17 October 2016: Kem Ley’s final farewell, by Touch Sokha and Ananth Baliga

And let also ask 3 OPEN QUESTIONS:
1. “How would those who masterminded Mr. Kem Ley’s assassination feel in their own heart, 100 days after the commission of this horrendous and despicable political crime?”
2. “As practicing Buddhists who celebrated Pchoum Bènn, how would they live up to Buddhism dharma, both spiritually and religiously?”; and
3. “Do they have conscience?”

Kacvey, when answers are in, it will be like studying “Why did Cain kill Abel?”

Post scriptum: In a remark sent to Attilus, Lacydes said: “statues are best seen from a distance.”